Disappointing news

Hello there. Once again it's been awhile since I last posted here. Overall I've had a good few weeks since my last post. We were able to head up to the U.P. for almost a couple of weeks. My parents were able to come up for almost a week and help us do some home improvements. Dad especially helped by doing some drywalling for me. I had a room and stairway that I had torn down to the studs and insulated last winter. Then of course I found out about the cancer and have hardly been there since. So it was great to be able to get that nearly finished. We also had fun spending time with my folks and enjoying the fall weather.

We came back down south last Thursday on a lovely fall day. On Friday I had an appointment with the endocrinologist in the morning. She was pretty happy with my bloodwork and how I had been feeling so I was able to get off the rest of the medication I had been taking for my thyroid. Then I had an MRI of my brain and a set of CT scans on the rest of my body. These scans were to determine if the treatments I've been receiving are working or not. So we were both pretty stressed about this. It was hard waiting over the weekend until our appointment with the oncologist on Tuesday morning. Overall though we'd been feeling pretty positive about things and really hoping for some news of shrinking of the tumors.

Unfortunately, we didn't hear what we were hoping for on Tuesday morning. The MRI of my brain was fine so that was a positive thing. The CT scans showed that the tumors are not shrinking. The ones in my liver were still there and there were some new ones there as well. This means that the treatment hasn't been working so I won't be continuing with this chemotherapy. No doubt about it, this is a major blow. I had really been hopeful about this set of treatments and I've been feeling so good... it's just really disappointing.

The doctor told us that essentially I've now been through the standard treatments for metastatic melanoma. Clinical trials exist, but because I have a second malignancy (thyroid cancer), I am not eligible to participate in these. I guess it is against FDA rules or something. He proposed three options. There is a chance the the National Cancer Institute would take me into a trial they have going. He thinks there is a slim chance for this because of the thyroid cancer issue that I just mentioned. They are looking into this option for me. Another option is to find a Phase 1 trial - he also called it a first in human trial. These trials are for drugs that have shown promise in a laboratory setting. He said that these trials are to see what sort of side effects occur in humans as well as to study the efficacy of the drug in fighting the cancer. There are only five or six locations where these tests take place in the U.S. One of these is at the Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit. They are also looking into this option for me. The other option is to do nothing. Not too thrilled about that option.

So this is all pretty sobering stuff. We wanted so badly to just go to the infusion center and continue the chemotherapy. We've been doing pretty well since we got the news yesterday. It's just made us very sad, but not necessarily more stressed out. At least we don't have to wait anymore to hear the news. We're not giving up hope at all. We're happy that my brain still looks good and that I'm feeling good. It would have been nice if the doctor could have just given us another course of treatment to try though. We'll probably be getting a call from the doctor tomorrow to let us know what they have found out about the National Cancer Institute and Karmanos. We're hoping I can get into some sort of program sometime soon.

So that's the story at the moment. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We'll need your support now and into the future. We're still hopeful and pray that you all can be as well. I know that I've got much more to do on this earth. I'm not close to giving up. Just a little bruised from the recent news, but I'll bounce back and we'll figure out the next steps!!

Take care all,
Brian